History Main / SavageWolves

* A theme in Film/TheCompanyOfWolves too.

** Nymeria, belonging to Arya. She was originally well-trained, but since being driven off early in the first book, she has gone feral and now leads a huge pack (numbering in the hundreds) of ordinary wolves which threaten both livestock and man throughout the Riverlands.

* ''TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' features wolves as a common enemy in the wilderness, often attacking in groups of three. [[SubvertedTrope They're one of the weakest, most easily-killed enemies in the game]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', it's not uncommon for a player to find themselves attacked by two or three wolves at once. They're easy to kill, but they can become ParanoiaFuel if you can hear the howls but are unable to see them or know the direction the howls come from. The worst part of the wolves is that they may infect you with Rockjoint plague which severely reduces your fighting ability.

* During the "[[SuccessionCrisis War of the Five Kings]]" in a ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Clash Of Kings]]'' an enormous pack of wolves, possibly numbering in the hundreds, is roaming the Riverlands under the leadership of a fearless direwolf, [[spoiler:presumably Arya's former pet Nymeria]]. The pack has grown stronger by the events of ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Dance With Dragons]]''.

* In ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', [[BigBad the White Witch]] has a pack of wolves that serve as her secret police. The pack's Alpha, named Maugrim, even acts as her [[TheDragon second-in-command]].

* ''Film/TheSecretOfKells'', when [[TheFairFolk Aisling]] sics her wolves on Brendan as he's traveling through the forest in search of oak galls. Later inverted when [[spoiler:Aisling sics them on the Vikings that are about to kill Brendan and Aidan in a BigDamnHeroes moment.]]
* ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'' features a scene in which the heroes are pursued by a pack of wolves similar to the Beauty and the Beast example.

* In ''Anime/TheTibetanDog'', a pack of wolves attack the sheep Tenzing is herding, but they're driven away by BigDamnHeroes Tibetan dogs.

* Creator/JRRTolkien liked this one. Packs of intelligent wolves (called Wargs) threaten the main characters of both ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

[[quoteright:330:[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_3811.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[-Direwolves. Not snookumspuppywolves. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Direwolves]].-] ]]

See also TheBigBadWolf and {{Hellhound}}. Compare animals that share similar reputations, such as [[BearsAreBadNews bears]] and [[ThreateningShark sharks]].

* VideoGame/TombRaider2013 often features packs of wolves attacking you. Even worse, one level has you enter their den to get supplies.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'',

* ''GingaNagareboshiGin'': some of the wolves are bad but it's averted with those who help Gin and his pack go to the Underworld to save Cross and her puppies.
* In Anime/TheTibetanDog, a pack of wolves attack the sheep Tenzing is herding, but they're driven away by BigDamnHeroes Tibetan dogs.
* In {{Inuyasha}}, one of the youkai him and his group encounter is a giant, manipulated wolf and his normal-sized pack. Later they encounter a village where everyone has been slaughtered by wolves, lead by a humanoid wolf-youkai named Koga. Eventually Koga turns out a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and they (usually) get along fine with him.

[[folder:Film]]

* In Bryan Miranda's ''The Journey to Atlantis,''

* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'': The wolves are a danger to Belle and her father and even manage to injure the Beast.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'': [[BigBad Lord Shen's]] henchmen are wolves.
* ''Film/TheSecretOfKells'', when [[TheFairFolk Aisling]] sics her wolves on Brendan as he's traveling through the forest in search of oak galls. Later inverted when [[spoiler:Aisling sics them on the Vikings that are about to kill Brendan and Aidan in a BigDamnHeroes moment.]]
%%* ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'' -

* ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'' features a scene in which the heroes are pursued by a pack of wolves similar to the Beauty and the Beast example.

As alpha predators and clever pack hunters, wolves have often been feared and hated by humans. They frequently preyed on human livestock and, in Europe, humans themselves to the extent that serious efforts were made to wipe them out of the region. This reputation bled over into fiction where wolves were portrayed as nasty, savage and rapacious predators seemingly bent on devouring everyone they could. And that's if they're merely animals. Give them some intelligence and they'll be cruel, nasty and sadistic.

Compare and contrast the more recent trope NobleWolf, which features wolves as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin noble]], proud, reasonable or even outright heroic. It's not an exclusively positive image though: When the two tropes start to intersect, they will still be very dangerous and not to be underestimated or disrespected.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', there are wolves guarding the fifth floor of [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]]. They were moved there from Level 2 so they wouldn't kill all the other beasts there!
** Subverted earlier when the crew was in Upper Yard. The wolves appear menacing at first, but after their leader is impressed by Nami's ferocity, they join the campfire.
* Some of the wolves in the ''GingaNagareboshiGin'' manga are bad. But it's averted with those who help Gin and his pack go to the Underworld to save Cross and her puppies.

* In {{Inuyasha}}, one of the youkai him and his group encounter is a giant, manipulated wolf and his normal-sized pack. Later they encounter a village where everyone has been slaughtered by wolves, lead by a humanoid wolf-youkai named Koga. Eventually however, Koga turns out a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and they (usually) get along fine with him.

* ''Film/TheGrey'' is basically this trope TheMovie. The survivors of a plane crash in Alaska not only have to survive the elements, but survive the pack of wolves that is chasing them down.
* Wolves take predatory interest on Dan after he jumps from the ski lift and breaks his legs in ''Film/{{Frozen}}''.
* ''Film/LookWhosTalking Now'' featured a group of wolves during the final act of the film. PlayedForLaughs.
* Subverted, like many other tropes, in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', where the Wolf is a {{Fletch}} {{Expy}} trying to get to the bottom of a major story. The sequel dumbs him down even more.

* {{Inverted}} in ''Literature/TheJungleBook''.
* Inverted at first in ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'' then played straight after the BigBadassWolf who's keeping them in line dies and they revert to their natural instincts, which include killing any werewolves they come across, ([[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent even Angua]]). She doesn't begrudge their hostility though, she knows and accepts that they have some pretty good reasons to hate werewolves.
* Implied in Literature/{{Halvgudene}}

* While he's watching the Alphas in action in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry notes that humans in this age of guns and helicopters have forgotten just why we used to be afraid of wolves, and that there are several ''very good'' reasons.
* ''Literature/TheWolvesOfWilloughbyChase'': In the novel that gave its name to the series, an alternate England where packs of wolves roam the 19th century Yorkshire countryside, the young heroine is almost killed when one such pack ''attack a train''. She's only saved when the man sharing her carriage stabs the wolf that's got in with them to death.
* During the "[[SuccessionCrisis War of the Five Kings]]" in a ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Clash Of Kings]]'' it's become apparent that an enormous pack of wolves, possibly numbering in the hundreds, is roaming the Riverlands under the leadership of a [[BigBadassWolf fearless direwolf]], [[spoiler:presumably Arya's former pet Nymeria]]. The pack has apparently grown stronger by the events of ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Dance With Dragons]]''.

* In Bryan Miranda's ''The Journey to Atlantis,'' the boys go hunting for food, and run into a wolf. You'd think it would easy for four of them to take down one single wolf, but it's just not that easy. They are basically helpless until the dog, Maxie Jr., shows up to distract the wolf, at witch point they gain the upper hand and kill it.
** Later on, when they need wolf pelt to be able to survive the snow, they go looking specifically for more wolves, and find a whole family in a cave. Although three of them plan to take on the entire cave (which would have been suicide), some {{Divine Intervention}} from Sol comes in the form of a lightning bolt that kills most of the wolves, leaving only three for the humans to fight.
** The antagonist, Loki, also takes the form of a crimson-colored wolf. He is not seen with any other wolves, but attacks Mickello directly once every year in an attempt to kill him. Or just injure him.[[/folder]]

* As did ''VideoGame/VagrantStory''.

* In the game ''VideoGame/{{Gun}}'', wolves pop up from time to time. They're quite big.
* Wolves act as enemies in the forested areas in ''VideoGame/FridayThe13th''.
* In ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', there is a huge wolf called Lupis Gigantormus that roams Holland.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', it's not uncommon for a player to find themselves being attacked by two or three wolves at once. They're rather easy to kill, but they are quite large. However, they can become ParanoiaFuel if you can hear the howls but are unable to see them or know the direction the howls come from.
** The worst part of the wolves however is that they may infect you with Rockjoint plague which severely reduce your fighting ability.
* Wolf packs are one of the worse non-zombie threats in the ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}'' {{roguelike}}. They're made all the worse by the fact that their letter color can make them ''very'' hard to spot before they're on top of you.
* In ''Videogame/{{Minecraft}}'', wolves normally mind their own business, and can even be tamed and used as guard animals. But if you attack a wolf, it and its whole pack go berserk and try to kill you.
* Latter portion of the cemetery stages in ''VideoGame/MediEvil'' feature wolves.
** In order to leave the cemetery, you have to fight two stone wolves which guard it.
* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'', ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', and ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'', wolves are the archetypical wild predator of the wilderness. Actually, if Age of Empires II is played without the expansion, wolves are the only predator in a game, that ranges geographically from Europe to the Middle East, to Asia. Age of Mythology is also the only game of the series where wolves can actually be hunted for food, otherwise they are just a menace deadly to villagers.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'': A wolf pack attacks Conner after he kills a buck near their territory. As a credit to how tough they are, the wolves slow him down for maybe, like, twelve seconds.
** Also of note is that Conner's AnimalMotif - besides the eagle that all Assassins identify with - is that of a wolf, to indicate his predatory hunting style. The name "[[MeaningfulName Conner]]" even means "lover of wolves".

* Wolves, and other creatures in the wolf family, in the ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' series can be dangerous depending on your level, because unlike with most other enemies, it is difficult to lure them to you one at a time, so you'll usually have to deal with entire packs.

* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' provides the page image. The wolves are a danger to Belle and her father and even manage to injure the Beast.
* Lord Shen's henchmen from ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' are wolves.

* ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'' - along the lines of the wolf scenes in Look Who's Talking.

* In the WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E11FamilyAppreciationDay Family Appreciation Day]], there are timber wolves (literally made of timber).

* And who could ever forget Disney's own [[Disney/ThreeLittlePigs Big Bad Wolf]]?

Compare and contrast the more recent trope NobleWolves, which features wolves as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin noble]], proud, reasonable or even outright heroic. It's not an exclusively positive image though: When the two tropes start to intersect, they will still be very dangerous and not to be underestimated or disrespected.